James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

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All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Here’s a little watercolor study that I made while waiting for breakfast at the local diner.

A good thing to keep in mind when painting highly reflective objects, such as these little stainless steel creamers, is that the more reflective something is, the greater the range of values needed to portray it.

James, Great study. I am glad you post stuff like this - its a reminder to all of us who think we 'don't have enough time. I am reminded of louis auchincloss- who wrote 57 books (his last at 90)-while raising a family and working (Working not a face partner) as a lawyer. whit stilmman interviewed him and asked how he did it:

How did you manage to combine a full-time law career with such extraordinary productivity as a writer?

Auchincloss: What I learned to do was use bits and slices of time. If you learn that you can cover an enormous amount of ground. I'd go to Surrogate's Court and listen to the calendar being called for a particular case - it might come up in 10 minutes or in an hour - I thought, look, I could write then. Lots of writers think you need rest and calm, your slippers and a cigar, and all that. That's all very well if you can have those things, but you don't need them. So I picked up a great deal of time that way. If you have a notebook, you can fill that in constantly.

...............Naturally painters can't carry around their magnum opuses, but they can always carry a small sketchbook - and work out problems and ideas, or practice, and that makes time at the easel more productive.

Great little study, the well balanced warm and cools and the economy of wash applications.10 minutes? Just curious...What is the size? I remember your little postage stamp sized studies, the little gems, you did sitting in a train station from an earlier post.

David, the sketches are about 3 inches square, done with a little Schmincke watercolor set and a few touches of water soluble colored pencils.

My Pen, yes, I've heard of many books that were written in these little bits of time. The only difference is that with sketches, I'm not really working toward a large goal/large work, but just looking for little sidelong glances, gathered at random toward no particular goal.